Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of mental health support for prisoners.

In response to the Justice Select Committee’s inquiry on Mental Health in Prisons and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation’s inspection of the Criminal Justice Journey for Individuals with Mental Health Needs and Disorders, health and justice partners set out a wide range of commitments to improve mental health support in prisons, committing to ensuring that people in prison have access to an equivalent standard, range, and quality of health care in prisons to that available in the wider community.

Since the inquiries, the Government has published a draft Mental Health Bill, which is now subject to pre-legislative scrutiny. The Bill includes vital reforms to support people with serious mental illnesses in the criminal justice system. This includes speeding up access to specialist in-patient care and treatment by ending the use of prison as a ‘place of safety’ and establishing a new statutory time limit of 28 days for transfers from prison to hospital.

HMPPS continue to fund the Samaritans’ Listener Scheme and will be providing the Samaritans with £625k each year until March 2025. Through the scheme, selected prisoners are trained to provide support to fellow prisoners in emotional distress.

The Ministry of Justice continues to work with NHS England to improve services in prison to ensure that people have access to timely and effective mental health care that is tailored to their needs. This will be reflected in the new National Partnership Agreement on Health and Social Care in England, which is due to be published shortly.